Tip Question at a Beauty Salon

I do 20% on everything....and something for the shampoo girl, if you have O.. Sigh. I know. Are we slaves to vanity? LOL

Ok I am going to be the rare one. For what you said you are having done - you are paying way too much -----however that said no matter what you decide is ok for you to pay for 15 - 20% for all services you received.

I tip 20% on everything, but not everybody does and you need to stay within your budget. Don't worry.

I'm really surprised by the person's response who said they don't tip at all. First of all, stylists are no different than say, a waiter or waitress. Their pay is much lower because their employers factor in the estimation of tips. You wouldn't "tip" a teacher because their work is not considered service work. They have a set salary, unlike a stylist probably makes close to minimum wage. It's a courtesy and a show of gratitude and it's the right thing to do to tip anyone who performs such service for you. I would not tip on products that I purchase at the time of check out but you tip your stylist for all the work he or she performed on you. 15-20 % is the norm.

I tip no less than 20% of the total bill.

As a former hairdresser ... I'm an excellent tipper ($3 on a $9 haircut at the barbers at the base for my youngest son, and $5-$10 on a $20 haircut at the mall salon for my daughter, she draws her own haircuts so they can take a good bit of time). I know how hard that job is and how little it really pays. Which is why I no longer do it. When I worked as a hairdresser (granted this was over 20 year ago) I made $3.10 an hour and had ZERO benefits. And I do mean ZERO, not even sick pay. If I was sick and couldn't go to work I didn't get paid for the day.

On top of that I had to deal with people who wanted me to turn them into a super model not actually give them the haircut they said they wanted. Or who said "I want an inch taken off" and when I took off an inch (an actual measured inch) they had the biggest hissy fit and berated me up one side and down the other because THEY actually only wanted a 1/4 of an inch taken off.

Oh and lets not forget the women who want their hair colored but have zero concept of color and their own freakin hair.
Them: I want to be a platinum blonde like Marilyn Monroe.
Me: Ok, I can achieve that for you, BUT it's going to be a double process so it's going to take more time, cost more and damage your hair a lot more. And may not flatter your skin tone, can I suggest something a little warmer in tone?
Them: No, I don't care, I want to be platinum blonde. I'm paying you to do what I tell you to do."
Me: Ok, sign these waivers and we'll get started.
3 hours later when everything is done what happens?
Them: OH MY GAWD THIS LOOKS TERRIBLE. I LOOK TERRIBLE. WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY HAIR? I'LL SUE YOU FOR THIS.
Me: I made you a platinum blonde just like you said you wanted. And no you won't sue me, you signed a waiver.
Them: Well I'm not paying for this and I'll smear your name all over town. NO ONE WILL COME TO YOU AGAIN.
After getting my manager involved they pay the bill but walk out without tipping me, even though I had done EXACTLY what they asked me to do.

And all of the above came with minimum wage and NO benefits (and I can tell you it isn't much better now).

Yeah that's the kind of job I wanted to work for 25 or 30 years ... NOT.

Now to answer your question 15%-20% on all services performed is appropriate. So yeah it's a little low. I'd up it to $25-$30 minimum.

I'm confused as to why you wouldn't tip for the treatment? I mean, do you tip for food, but not drinks at a restaurant? You tip for the entire bill, right? (I'm really am confused by that, I'm not trying to be condescending!!) $20 isn't even 15% of your entire bill. So, $15 is especially...yes...cheap. I tip no less then 20%. If someone gives you excellent service, you should tip accordingly. 15% is kind of the baseline, for normal service. I think if you are happy with her, you should be tipping her more then you are. At minimum 15%.

I do 20% on the service -- but excluding any products I buy of course. My hairdresser is my daughter's friend, and I've known her for many years, so sometimes I even tip more than that. But never less.

I can't imagine walking out of a salon and not tipping. That, to me, seems completely rude. Those ladies aren't making a ton of money, unless they own the salon. How sad that some people don't tip!

Yes, you tip on everything they do to you (not necessarily on products you buy to take home, like shampoo). So 20% of $142 would be $28.

20% why wouldn't you tip on the conditioning treatment? she has to put it on and then usually they do some sort of massaging it in. thats like saying do I tip on the wash lol. tip on the whole thing. for a $142 bill your tip should be in the $28 - $30 range.

I only get my hair cut at the salon I go to which cost's me $50 and I tip her $10, I also have been going to this stylist for four years now and I love her! I dye my hair from time to time myself only because I dye my hair Blue Black and it comes straight from a box and LOVE it! But the woman I go to is honest with me and she said that im better off buying the box hair dye, So I enjoy and love her honesty! As for your question, I think that tipping her $15-$20 is enough. I do want to add on that if I go around Christmas to get my hair cut then I'll double my tip to her just as a 2 in one gift because of the holidays.

Always 20%. Sometimes my daughter's hair dresser gets more. My daughter is only 8, but she either has a texturizer or braids...and sometimes I feel an $8 tip on a $40 service for braids is not enough for the work she did.

I would tip $30 on a $142 bill. These days, 20% is the bare minimum for good service, and I've found (around here, anyway, where it can be difficult to get in with a good stylist or colorist) that if you tip a bit more than that, it can be significantly easier to get appointments quickly, should you ever need to. :) Also, if your stylist or colorist has an assistant (the person who washes your hair or gives you a hand or foot massage while you're waiting for your color to set, for example), you should tip that person a few dollars, separately from what you tip your stylist/colorist. Hope that helps!

I usually tip a little more than 20% on the total bill.

I tip at least 20% (sometimes more) on the entire bill.

Since I take up a good block of time, I tip based on time. For just a cut my stylist charges $40, $8 does not seem like enough for all the work she does and it takes about 1 1/2 hours to do my hair. I have a lot of hair that I need to get a lot of the thickness removed, which that alone takes an hour, if I get it highlighted, that at least another hour, if not more, and then the cut itself. I usually try to tip $10 an hour.

If you pay the cashier.....and you add the tip on.....how does the stylist actually know how much each individual client leaves them? I don't know. I must be cheap. and I love my hair stylist! My bill is around 130ish and I usually leave $20.

Sorry, I am a cheap skate. I don't tip at all. The tip is that I keep going back to get my hair done and not go elsewhere.

Why is tipping such a norm and not a part of the job??? They chose the profession, I am not going to augment their pay!

Do you tip your child's teacher who teaches him something new and exciting everyday? No, because you feel it is her JOB!!! And NO not all teachers are on contract and receive a salary (Dance, after school, etc.).

I would just tip on the entire bill. I usually give $10 for tip but I haven't needed any type of color or treatments yet but I'm sure thats right around the corner. I think $15-$20 is good.

I have known my stylist since we were in 7th/8th grade, she was one of my best friends. When we became friends via FB again...I started going to her. Before going to her I would tip 18-20% depending on my satisfactory level.

I over tip my friend, not because she's my friend but because she's the first stylist to actually listen to what I want and get it right! Once I did only tip her 20% because she was going on vacation at the end of that day I didn't really give me her "ALL"...so I gave her standard!

But I always tip on the whole total...not just the cut/color! If she is doing the conditioning treatment you should and if it's another person that person should get the tip.

I've heard it depends on whether the stylist is an employee or an independent contractor. I think the 20% rule applies to employees.